Elizabeth Sutkowska is an experienced Executive Assistant with international expertise supporting leaders in fast-paced corporate and startup environments.
In this episode of The Leader Assistant Podcast, Elizabeth talks about “falling into” the EA role, launching a Poland-based association to empower assistants, and more.
LEADERSHIP QUOTE
There is no limit to what a man can do or where he can go if he doesn’t mind who gets the credit.
CONNECT WITH ELIZABETH
ABOUT ELIZABETH
Elizabeth Sutkowska is an experienced Executive Assistant with international experience supporting leaders in fast-paced corporate and startup environments. Her career spans Poland, Cyprus, the USA, and Italy, where she has held diverse roles and developed a broad, interdisciplinary skill set.
A lifelong learner, Elizabeth studied at five universities, including four international institutions, earning degrees in international relations, corporate communication, business psychology, media, and marketing. Her unique blend of experience and education fuels her commitment to redefining the Executive Assistant profession.
Driven by purpose and passion, she recently founded Assistologist, a Poland-based association dedicated to elevating the EA role and promoting global best practices. The vision behind Assistologist is to shape a future where Executive Assistants and leaders engage in Holistic Partnership 2.0, strategic, intentional, and growth-focused collaboration.
Outside of work, Elizabeth is an advocate for healthy living, mindfulness, and exploring the world with curiosity and joy.
–––
THE LEADER ASSISTANT ACADEMY
Enroll in the on-demand, AI-powered professional development resource for Leader Assistants who want to level up. Learn more -> The Leader Assistant Academy.
THE LEADER ASSISTANT BOOK
Download the first 3 chapters of The Leader Assistant: Four Pillars of Game-Changing Assistant for FREE here or buy it on Amazon and listen to the audiobook on Audible. Also, check out the companion study guide, The Leader Assistant Workbook, to dig deeper.
JOIN THE FREE COMMUNITY
Join the Leader Assistant Global Community for bonus content, job opportunities, and to network with other assistants who are committed to becoming leaders!
THE LEADER ASSISTANT PREMIUM MEMBERSHIP
To learn more about how you can join growth-minded Leader Assistants, check out our Leader Assistant Premium Membership for ongoing training, coaching, and community.
LEADER ASSISTANT LIVE EVENTS
Check out our constantly updated schedule of events for admins and assistants at LeaderAssistantLive.com.
SUBSCRIBE
Subscribe to The Leader Assistant Podcast so you don’t miss new episodes!
You can find the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Pandora, and Stitcher.
Join my email list here if you want to get an email when a new episode goes live.
LEAVE A REVIEW
If you’re enjoying the podcast, please take 2 minutes to rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts here. Each review helps me stay motivated to keep the show going!
–––
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
Elizabeth: 00:46
So one quote that has deeply stayed with me comes from Peggy Grande’s book, where she reflects on her time as executive assistant to Ronald Reagan. On his desk, he he kept a plaque that read, There is no limit to what a man can do or where he can go. If he doesn’t mind, who gets the credits.
Speaker: 01:15
The Leader Assistant Podcast exists to encourage and challenge assistants to become confident, game-changing leader assistants.
Jeremy: 01:31
Hey friends, welcome to the Leader Assistant Podcast. It’s your host, Jeremy Burrows, and this is episode 355. You can check out the show notes for this conversation at l leaderassistant.com/355. And today I’m excited to be speaking with Elizabeth Sutkovska. Elizabeth is an experienced executive assistant with international expertise supporting leaders in fast-paced corporate and startup environments. Elizabeth, welcome to the show.
Elizabeth: 02:07
Thank you so much. Thank you so much for having me here. I’m a big fan of your podcast, and all of all of you do. So it’s it’s privilege to be here.
Jeremy: 02:19
Awesome. What part of the world are you in right now? And what do you like to do when you’re not working?
Elizabeth: 02:25
Good question. So first one is easy. I’m from Poland in Europe. What I do when I’m not working, I like sports, definitely. Sports, this is something that it has been always with me. And something that not many people know. I like um design clothes, and I have a sewing machine. So my mom was a tailor, like you know, Prada in a little village. She was like amazing. So, you know, when your parents do something, you somehow absorb through the blood. Uh so I like to do it in the in in the meantime.
Jeremy: 03:04
That’s great. What do you what are some of your favorite things to design or or to sew?
Elizabeth: 03:11
You know, the favorite thing is usually like I’m very tall and my, for example, my hands are very long. So sometimes it’s um not easy to find the perfect size when it comes to uh pants or jackets. So many times I have to, you know, make some kind of extension of my, you know, for the pants, you know, make them longer so they look not from the younger brother or younger sister, you know, so they look really nice. So so this is something that this is the most, most of the things that I do at the moment. But sometimes when I need something uh to do at home, curtain or maybe something on the coach. So I do it myself. So whatever comes to my mind or whatever is needed, I just you know use my imagination and and do it.
Jeremy: 04:08
That would be really handy. I I have very long arms and long legs and have that issue as well, so I can relate. That’s awesome. All right. Well, let’s jump into your career. How did you end up uh as an executive assistant and um yeah, what what got you into that role? And tell us a little bit about your your career journey.
Elizabeth: 04:29
Yeah, good question. So I will just quickly give you uh background. Uh I used to work and live in Cyprus. In Cyprus, it was my early 20s. There was a time where I didn’t know what to do in my life. So I I before I started my university, I moved to Cyprus for two years. So it was perfect. Um, summary destination for many people, so bars, drinks, parties. So this was perfect. But then I started reading very smart books, and I started having the idea that okay, I think Cyprus is not gonna be my place to stay forever. And uh and then I was like dreaming to go to United States, and that time in my early 20s, there was a possibility to go as an opre uh to United States. So I spent one year in California in Palo Alto with an amazing family, and then half year I would say near Washington DC. And uh when I was at um I was when I was in California, I hang out with students from Stanford. So, you know, the the smart brain somehow influenced me. And that time I was like, okay, I think I know what I want to study, you know, it’s time to it’s time to you know get life series. Uh so like people are saying that like with who you spend most of the time, you get influence. So the the nearest crowd. So I can confirm that that smart people influenced me. And then I moved back to Poland. I started my international relationships, uh, bachelor’s degree with the with the profile. I I’m not sure it’s a specialization or profile, I’m not so sure how you say in in uh American English, and um was inter um communication, intercultural, inter, yeah, it was it was communication, whatever.
Jeremy: 06:42
Yeah, yes.
Elizabeth: 06:45
And uh and then uh after two years um on bachelor’s degree in Europe we have an Erasmus program where you can also go to other countries and study. Um so after two years of my bachelor’s degree, uh the third year, the last year I did in Italy. So I moved to Italy and I stayed there for three years in total. I completed my bachelor’s degree, also I did my master’s degree in Milano, and then I returned to Poland, where I am right now. So um along the way I did a lot of works, a lot of you know activities, uh but why we are here right now is what it was the time was 2019, where when I fell into a role of executive assistant. So before I fell into this role, I was in sales, and that time the company was closing the offices in Europe, and there was a time what I want to do next. And I was like sitting and wondering what to do next, which industry, and so on. And I decided to find a job in innovation and startup industry. So I was like, I want to work with innovation, they’re always you know ahead of time. Uh so I don’t want to be, you know, in industry where I lag behind and I and I know things, you know, the last. But when you are in innovation, you’re always you know ahead of time, kind of. And that time I applied to local company, uh, whom I read before about the boss, about the CEO and the company. Uh, and I thought, oh my god, this is really cool place to be. And the funny thing was that I I applied there twice uh for sales uh position, and they rejected me twice. And I was like, now you’re making mistakes. I was always replying to them, I don’t agree with your decision, you have to review my application once again, you know. And then I thought in my head, like, you’re gonna come back to me, you’re gonna knock to my door. And it was like a month later, the head of sales, he he reached out to me and he was like, Elizabeth, you know what? Our CEO is looking for executive assistant, and we think you’re gonna be a perfect fit. And that time I was like, Okay, Google, tell me what does assistant do? Because I’ve never, I mean, it’s not that I never heard, but I wasn’t familiar with that role. So then I checked those responsibilities and I was like, kind of, you know, I’m familiar with all of the tasks, you know, but I haven’t done this professionally officially. And so I sent them the reply that I haven’t done this professionally, but we can give each other a chance and see how it goes. And next day I had an interview, and then CEO said, When when can you start? Um, can you start next week? And I was like, Okay, that’s that’s fine. So I had an interview on Friday, and after the weekend on Tuesday, I started my work. And I can tell you that the first uh, I would say the first role as executive assistant is so important because it can be like a good one or it can be like really bad, and then assistants might say that what it what’s going on? I don’t like this job and I don’t know why people are doing this. But luckily, my first experience with the CEO, it was really amazing, and he treated me straight away as a business partner. He dropped on me, on my shoulder, many projects, many ideas, and it was startup community, innovations, technology. So I discovered the skills that I didn’t know I can I have and you know things that I can handle because it was a new environment, but it was really amazing. And then I started also looking for different um um educational platforms and resources where I can learn a little bit more about the profession. And unfortunately in my country, Poland, uh wasn’t that much, not that much that I would expect, uh, as this profession is more popular in English-speaking countries. So most of the resources were from the United States. You’re one of them. So your podcast and resources uh were very valuable and I appreciate that. And then I started learning, you know, from different mentors, videos, and so on, to the point that I was like, I think I know a lot right now, and then um yeah, and then I decided to be more active myself, um, be more vocal, and uh, and decided to open association in Poland.
Jeremy: 12:31
That’s great. So, what did you do to when you started the association, you know, what did you do to network and reach out and build that? Or had you already had the people connections and you’re just like this is a natural fit?
Elizabeth: 12:48
Yeah, good question. An association, it’s a fresh thing, it’s from this year. And uh so in Poland to open association, you have to have a minimum of seven people. So I gather uh seven um team members who who really uh like the idea, and then we went through the process. Um, you have to apply to governmental office, they have to check everything, what you want to do, why you wanna do, and so on. So there is like a pretty long process, but I can tell you that end of August uh we got officially registered, so we can you know fully uh function. So right now we are we are finishing building website, and then as you know, website is usually the place like a business card. So from now on, we will be able to build a network and um build a community.
Jeremy: 13:55
That’s awesome. Congrats! Congrats by the way.
Elizabeth: 13:57
Thank you so much. Thank you so much. A lot of work.
Jeremy: 14:00
Yeah, yeah, definitely. So okay, so then what is the is a systologist the same thing, or is that a different form of systologist, yes. Okay, so that’s the that’s the the name of the association for pollen-based assistants. Okay, cool. Cool. Awesome. Well, what is your favorite part about the role as an assistant in in your throughout your career?
Elizabeth: 14:32
I would say that the variety of the tasks, uh uh, I’m the person who gets um, I would say, bored easily uh if there is not too much enough things going on or it’s um too much repetitive work, you know, it’s like uh okay, give me a break. It’s like it’s boring. Uh so I need constant simulation, maybe not constant, but um I like predictability of the work. Like you have, you know, you go to work, you have let’s say eight hours, but what’s gonna happen within those hours, it has to be, you know, like um it has to be a variety of the thing of the things to do. Otherwise, it’s it’s not um uh it’s not gonna keep me there. And uh, if somebody would told me like um even 10 years ago that I will be really happy as an admin, because this is the category of uh where we are, uh I would say I think you are joking. Because um, and many many people also have this stereotype that the admin work is a boring work, but it’s uh it’s very dynamic role, uh, and that this is what I love about it, that every day brings something new.
Jeremy: 16:02
That’s great. Uh, what is the as you b built out the uh association and networking and helping other assistants embrace their potential, what’s been maybe a practical way to help leaders see and executives see us assistance not just as support but as strategic allies?
Elizabeth: 16:28
You know, this is a very interesting question because it depends on the leader, on executive itself. Because um from my experience, I worked with leaders who already knew um the value of executive assistant. Um currently I’m working, uh I’m supporting two directors, and they didn’t have assistant before, so I’m the first one. And uh so also it’s uh important for me to um guide them a little bit about the role, so little by little they kind of understood what I can do, what I’m capable to do, and so on. So baby steps. On the contrary, uh a friend of mine who uh who supported the CEO and she had a really great relationship, partnership relationship. She moved, she moved to supporting the CEO who didn’t have a good relationship with assistant, the previous assistant. So for her, it was a little bit discomfort because she could hear and she could she could feel that he doesn’t want to delegate, he’s questioning constantly, why you need to know those information when she when we need to know information, we need to know the context, right? So she’s asking, why you need this, why you need that, or and so on. And he was like, Why are you asking those questions? Why you need that? So he was very suspicious that you know she might use for something. So I would say here is like sometimes we can’t fix all CEOs, right? But through our daily practices, through our commitment to professionalism and showing that you know we we know what we are doing, why we need those information. Um, we lead by example, and somehow maybe CEOs, executives will catch up and they will open up and and trust a little bit more. If not, then we can just change the place.
Jeremy: 18:50
Awesome. Well, thanks so much for sharing your story and and for the work that you’re doing, especially in Poland with the association. Um is there any any last words or or final thoughts that you would like to share with the assistants uh listening?
Elizabeth: 19:08
What I would like to share. Stay awesome, stay cool, and the good days are ahead of us.
Jeremy: 19:16
Great. Well, what’s the best place for people to connect with you and and reach out?
Elizabeth: 19:22
Uh I would say LinkedIn. LinkedIn is uh my first Go platform where they can connect. And yeah, that would be the best place to visit.
Jeremy: 19:35
Perfect. Well, I’ll put those links in the uh show notes and leaderassistant.com/355 is where people can find your bio and and connect with you and learn more about a Assistologist and uh yeah, reach out and say hi. So thanks so much for being on the show, and uh we’ll hopefully uh hopefully connect soon, whether it’s in uh the US or or Poland.
Elizabeth: 20:03
Yeah, thank you so much. Thank you so much for having me.
